Chapter Twenty-Six
Six Months Later …
“To the brides!” Dalisay says, finishing her toast as she holds her champagne glass high.
“To the brides!” echo two hundred voices just as the music rises on the speakers in the reception hall. Nicole and Claire can’t stop smiling, and they kiss to roars of applause. Dalisay smiles at them, tears in her eyes, as she takes a sip of her drink.
Across the hall, she spots Evan—looking dashing in his suit and tie—clapping from a nearby table. He catches her eye and winks. She winks back at him, heart warm in her chest.
It’s been six months of meticulous planning, full of seemingly endless dress fittings, cake tastings, and DJ audition tapes. It felt like they were in an endless wedding prep purgatory and then all at once it was over. Claire and Nicole are finally married, and Dalisay almost wishes they could do the whole thing over again. Almost.
A couple weeks after Dalisay and Evan got back together, Claire proposed to Nicole. After their shift at the hospital, she got down on one knee right in front of the entrance and asked for Nicole’s hand. Her sister came home sobbing, and Dalisay almost thought something terrible had happened until Nicole threw out her hand for Dalisay to see the ring on her finger.
Dalisay was the maid of honor, and half of Kaiser Permanente were in attendance. JM and Pinky came too. As the coin bearer, Little Luis carried las arras, a box of thirteen coins presented to the couple; however, he thought he was the “coin bear” and growled at people as he went, much to everyone’s amusement.
Lola walked Nicole down the aisle. Before taking her seat, she kissed both of Nicole’s cheeks and said, “Your papa is very proud of you. He loves you so much. Can you feel it?” There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Their mother, already asking pointedly about grandchildren, couldn’t stop crying during their vows. Daniel was the designated tissue dispenser.
The day was a total blur, but Dalisay is glad for the party to get started. It means she can finally relax.
The reception hall is decked out in a Winter Wonderland theme, turning the interior of the hall into a frosted landscape straight out of Narnia. White birch trees line the hall twinkling with thousands of lights, crystal icicles and white roses cascade from the ceiling, and sheer white curtains drape across the walls like billowing snow. Their mother oversaw the decorations and by the way she threw herself into the job, leaving no detail to chance, Dalisay knows that she has given her blessing to the couple.
Dalisay makes her way from the head table and takes an open seat next to Evan as the rest of the guests flood the dance floor.
“Good job,” Evan says. “You’re a natural public speaker.”
Dalisay smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. You look very handsome, Mr. Saatchi.”
Evan tugs at his collar with a raised eyebrow and his eyes sparkle. “Thank you, Ms. Ramos. This wedding is going off without a hitch.”
Almost as if on cue, Little Luis tears across the hall, screaming and laughing as Melinda chases after him. As he’s grown these past few months, his powers of chaos have only increased. He dodges and weaves around tables and crawls under them, no doubt thinking this is the greatest game of tag ever. But he screams and kicks when JM scoops him up and hands him over to Melinda just before he can knock over the swan ice sculpture.
Pinky sidles up behind Dalisay and rests her forearms on Dalisay’s shoulders. Her cheeks are pink from the champagne already. “Get up, lazies! Let’s dance!”
“I think I’ve had enough dancing in public for one lifetime,” Evan says, taking another sip of his champagne. Something is up with him, Dalisay doesn’t quite know what. He keeps patting the pocket of his jacket and biting his full bottom lip. His leg is bouncing like crazy under the table.
“You go on without us,” Dalisay says to Pinky. Pinky’s too tipsy to protest and she moonwalks to the dance floor.
Dalisay turns back to Evan. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”
Evan laughs. “I’m fine! Really. Just a big day.”
“You can say that again,” Dalisay says with a relieved sigh. “I’m ready to fall asleep under the table.”
Evan glances at her, and smiles, and then clears his throat. “I’m going to get some cake. Do you want any?”
“Yes, please! And some more champagne, please!”
Evan nods and snakes his way through the crowd toward the dessert table.
As the music kicks up, Dalisay slides her heels off and leaves them under the table. Her feet ache from being in them all day, and now it feels like her toes can finally breathe. Everyone seems to be having a good time as the DJ blasts the latest Blackpink single, and she is more than happy to sit back and watch everyone else dance.
Dalisay feels Nicole slide into Evan’s empty chair. She kicks her bare foot up onto another empty chair, looking as if she’s lounging at home even in her beaded wedding gown. “Is Evan having a nice time?” she asks.
“I think so.” She watches him as he smiles and chats with her extended family, balancing desserts in one hand and holding a bottle of champagne in the other. She looks at Nicole again, seeing a small smile on her face as she looks at Evan too.
“Hey,” Dalisay says, making Nicole look at her. “I’m really happy for you. I love you a lot.”
Nicole wraps her arm around Dalisay’s shoulders and brings her in to a hug. They hold each other for a long moment before Nicole pulls back. “I love you more. And I know you’re gonna be really happy too.”
Dalisay laughs and is about to ask her why but one of their cousins whisks Nicole away to join them on the dance floor just as Evan returns to his chair. He sets the cake slices down, sliding a plate of cookies and sliced fruit in front of her too, and she smiles. He knew she would want some, even though she didn’t ask.
But, out of nowhere, Little Luis escapes containment and comes careening into Evan, wielding a fake icicle like a sword. “Whoa, buddy!” he says, laughing, and grabs Little Luis under the armpits. Little Luis screams, foiled once again, and Daniel swoops in.
“You are grounded, mister!” Daniel says, snatching the decoration out of his hands and throwing Little Luis over his shoulder like a sack of struggling potatoes. “Sorry, man,” he says to Evan as Little Luis giggles and snorts and Daniel carries him away.
“No worries!”
Dalisay shakes her head, laughing, but her eyes land on something on the floor. It must have fallen out of Evan’s pocket when Little Luis bumped into him. She picks up a small velvet box and she freezes when she realizes what it is.
“Evan.”
He freezes too, staring at the ring box in her hand, and then he pats his jacket pocket. Whatever he’s searching for isn’t there.
“Is this …?” She can’t get the words out.
Bashfully, Evan nods and sits down. “It’s … for you.”
“Evan,” Dalisay gasps, but she can’t finish. She has a million things she wants to say, but her mouth refuses to work.
“Open it,” he says.
With shaking hands, she does. Inside the box is a diamond ring. It sparkles in the strobe lights. She puts her hand to her mouth. It’s beautiful.
“It was Nicole’s idea,” Evan says. “I wanted to do pamam—”
“Pamamanhikan,” they say together. Dalisay is breathless. He’s done his research. It’s the traditional way of asking for her parents’ permission to propose.
“Of course you know,” Evan says, blushing. He gestures to the room. “Nicole said I should do it today, here, but I didn’t know when it would be a good time …”
At a loss for words, Dalisay shakes her head. She can’t believe this is happening. It feels like a dream, and she never wants to wake up. Evan’s smile fades a little.
“I get it,” Evan says, misunderstanding. “It’s too fast. I understand. You don’t have to say anything.”
He holds out his hand to take the box, but Dalisay holds the box closer to her chest. “You bought this for me? Like, for me?”
“Yeah,” he says, eyes soft. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to travel the world with you. I want to do everything with you. Not another day apart.”
Dalisay stares at him, her heart practically breaking out of her rib cage. Yes, she thinks. Yes! Yes! But she waits a beat to take all of this in, to remember it forever. The way Evan leans toward her, eyes full, yearning. He holds his breath, as if readying himself for what comes next. She knows he’s never been more confident in saying anything else before. For once, she’s not scared of the future. Tradition was thrown out the window a while ago.
Maybe they can make their own traditions, new ones, together.
“Evan,” she says again, breathless. “Ask me for my hand.”
“You don’t want to wait for—?”
“Ask me,” she says, smiling.
Evan’s eyes search hers, and she sees it all coming together for him as his face brightens and he takes her hand. She can feel him trembling, and it makes her giggle. He can be so cute when he’s nervous.
Evan swallows, making his Adam’s apple jump, and he looks like he’s about to melt when he looks at her.
Ask me. Ask, she thinks. She wants to answer with her whole chest because she’s never been surer about anything in her life. She’s holding on to the ring box so tightly, her fingers have gone numb. Nothing else matters in the entire world except for the two of them now. The rest of the party hasn’t realized what’s happening.
“Dalisay Ramos,” Evan says. Slowly, he makes her stand up as he gets down on one knee, his hand warm in hers.
Oh my God, this is real, Dalisay thinks. She’s shaking so badly, he’s the one keeping her upright.
Nicole gets everyone’s attention by tapping her fork on her glass and gesturing toward the couple. The music fades, and their mother gasps.
But Dalisay has no brain power left to register any of it. All she can see, all she can hear, is Evan. He smiles at her, his eyes already wet with tears.
“Will you make me the happiest man on earth, and marry me?”
For once, Dalisay can’t conjure the word. All this time, she’s imagined what this moment would be like, and now, as it’s actually happening, she’s so happy she can’t say anything. She can only nod and throw herself into his arms.
Distantly, she can hear people clapping and cheering, encouraging them, but it doesn’t register in her mind. All she can do is bury her face in Evan’s shoulder and cry with joy.
Evan holds her tightly, rising to his feet, and spins her around, lifting her off the ground. She’s dizzy and doesn’t care. After a moment, he sets her down and cups the back of her head with his hand. He’s so warm, and everything is so perfect. Nothing could have prepared her for this moment.
“Um. Is that a yes? I hope that’s a yes,” he says.
“Oh!” she says, pulling back. Dalisay kisses him, holding the sides of his head, and pulls back again. Tears blur her vision, but she can see Evan’s smile through it all. Finally, her mouth works. “Yes! Whole-ass yes! Yes!”
Evan laughs and the other wedding guests burst into applause again but neither Evan nor Dalisay can hear it. It’s like the whole world has faded into the background, and the only one who matters is in their arms.
They kiss again, and neither of them can stop smiling.